Loughrey is part of an outreach program with local children called Harps in the City. On Mondays and Fridays, she has been giving harp lessons to children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad. Once the classes finish up this summer, the children will perform for residents at local assisted-living centers.

Harp music has always had soothing qualities but until recently harps weren’t portable enough to take to patients. Now, with portable harps, musicians can play pieces created by therapeutic composers that match the rhythm and breathing patterns of someone who is close to death, Grant said.

Grant also commissioned four local artists to paint four Harpsicles that are being rotated each month through September to different business locations around the city for the public to touch and play.

The public can also play three different harps in the museum exhibit, and hear sound recordings of all of the harps on display, including an original harp from 1776, an ancient Egyptian harp replica and a modern electric harp.

“We want people to touch and play with these instruments,” she said. “And we hope if people come to the concerts, they’ll say, ‘Wow, I had no idea the harp could be used in so many ways.’ ”

“The Harp: A Global Story of Man, Music and Medicine”

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Through Sept. 30.

Where: Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad

Tickets: $8, general; $5, seniors, students with ID, youth ages 6 to 16; free, children 5 and under

16th century: One of the replicas in the exhibit is that of a 16th century Irish harp, the metal-stringed, handheld instruments that were played by men in Celtic clans beginning in the Middle Ages. The heavy instruments produce a unique bell-like tone when played. “It was a political symbol and used for entertainment,” said Carolyn Grant, the museum’s executive director.

18th century: The harp evolved again in the 1700s, thanks to a resurgence in popularity led by avid player Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen of France. Instrument makers developed the pedal harp, which allowed musicians to change the strings’ pitch with a foot pedal. Soon, composers, from Wagner to Ravel, were creating music specifically for the pedal harp.

19th century: The next evolution was the double-action pedal harp, developed in the 1800s, where pedals could change the strings’ tone to natural, sharp and flat notes. An example of this style of harp — 81-pound, 6-feet, 2-inch Lyon & Healy — is in the exhibit.

20th century: And in the 20th century, the harp was both electrified and made portable, with low-priced, lightweight harps (like the Harpsicle brand) available for both grade-schoolers and music therapists, who take them into hospitals and nursing homes.